A round-up of BBC announcements, press releases and blogs, plus some highlights from our TV, radio and online output last week.
Investment
Tony Hall announced the BBC is to increase its investment in English Language programming for Wales by 50 per cent and that the BBC is making the biggest single investment in broadcast content in Scotland in over 20 years.
BBC News also launched a £1m scheme for journalists with disabilities as part of Disability Works week.
Tributes to Steve Hewlett
Steve Hewlett sadly passed away on Monday 20 February. He presented Radio 4’s Media Show from 2008 when the programme launched and had previously been editor of BBC Panorama. He was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus in March 2016 and since September he had been speaking to Eddie Mair on Radio 4’s PM about his treatment.
Announcements and Blogs
Drama
BBC One announced Ben Hardy (Eastenders) and Jessie Buckley (War and Peace, Taboo) as the leads in the adaptation of Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in Whiteand that filming would start in March on Kay Mellor’s Love, Lies And Recordsthe cast includes Ashley Jensen (Catastrophe, Ugly Betty, Extras), Adrian Bower (Teachers, The Last Kingdom), Kenny Doughty (Vera, Stella), Rebecca Front (Doctor Thorne, War And Peace, Humans) and Mark Stanley (Dark River, Dickensian).
Music
BBC Music Day will return for a third year on Friday 9 June. As part of this year’s celebrations BBC Local Radio are working with The British Plaque Trust to choose a recipient for an official Blue Plaque in each BBC Local Radio station area in England and the Channel Islands.
BBC Radio 6 Music revealed that this year’s 6 Music Festival would be held in Glasgow and unveiled the acts who would be performing over three days from Friday 24 to Sunday 26 March.
Factual
The BBC’s natural history unit is set to return to the water in Blue Planet II spending some four years filming off every continent, and in all of the earth's oceans. We announced this week that the ‘sequel’ to The Blue Planet which was broadcast in 2001 will be presented by Sir David Attenborough.
Alison Kirkham, Controller Factual Commissioning, announced ambitious new programmes across BBC One and BBC Two.
Entertainment
More names were announced Let’s Sing and Dance for Comic Relief, which is back for Red Nose Day 2017.
Comedy
Witless, has been commissioned for a third series by BBC Three.
Interactive
BBC One’s Big Painting Challenge has inspired people from across the country to make art with Snapchat. The show is putting 10 contestants through their paces in an intensive six-week artistic boot-camp, and now the public are being encouraged to Snap their mobile creations to @bbc_one or share them using #BigPaintingChallenge on Twitter or Instagram.
World Service
BBC World Questions allows the public to challenge a panel face to face about the issues that matter to them. BBC World Service announced that on 7 March the programme will be at the George Washington University, with a special panel of leading politicians and policy makers answering questions from the public on America’s most pressing political, economic and foreign policy issues.
Blogs
Journalist Johny Cassidy gave us an insight into what inspired him to pitch his idea for Disability Works - a special week of coverage across TV, radio and online exploring the experiences of disabled people in the workforce and as consumers.
Broadcast Highlights
Inside No.9 - The Bill
- SS-GB, Sunday 19 February, BBC One
- Just A Minute, Monday 20 February, BBC Radio 4
- South Downs: England's Mountains Green, Tuesday 21 February,BBC Four
- Imagine….She Spoke the Unspeakable, Tuesday 21 February, BBC Two
- Inside No.9 – The Bill, Tuesday 21 February, BBC Two
- Who Do You Think You Are: Sunetra Sarker, Wednesday 22 February. BBC One
- This World: Born Too White, Thursday 23 February, BBC Two
